Yet another new runner (Read 1148 times)

In Nov 05 right before, as in less than 20 minutes, our Thanksgiving Feast at work, my doc's Nurse called to say I have Type 2 Diabetes. Big shock there Both my parents, my mom's mom and two of her borthers and HER mom and two of her brothers also. Then 6 weeks later my borhter. 4 generations and 10 people.
I hate needles! And I hate taking meds. So the Certified Diabetic Educator (CDE) said I MUST eat less and move more. What is better moving that running?
In May of 05 I was watching the coverage of the One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon and figured I could at least walk it, which I did this year. Next year I want to run it. The problem is that my left knee objected to the walking and it was the better part of a month for the pain to get better. Then when I walked at work on breaks (our building has a looped hall that is .4 miles) the knee objected again but not as bad.
How much of this pain is just Wall-Mart shoes and how much is age and weight? I am 52 and weigh about 230 heading to 190 to 195. I started out at just under 300 lbs

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

Hi there--your story sounds like one of my close friends...only she was just diagnosed at age 31. I don't know that she is doing much to become more active, either, unfortunately.
As for your knee question, I know Beth has had painful knee issues for years, which leads me to think that her weight is a major factor, though knee issues can also come with age, so I would think that your pain could be a 50/50 kind of thing. But the shoes probably don't help any. I definitely recommend a professional fitting at a running specialty store...money well spent for most people.
There are lots of type 2s in my family and 3 years ago I weighed 185#s, myself (at 5'3.5"), and was fighting hypoglycemia and other pre-diabetic symptoms. I started watching my carbs and calories and gradually worked my way down to 124 (though I am back up to over 135 because I just plain like to eat too much...I need to rein it in again AND not keep reasoning that I am running more, so I can eat more--because I can't). I feel SO much better and I'll bet you are, too. I know that some type 2s are able to control things with diet and exercise and no meds, I hope you are one of them!
k

'16 Goals:

• Do some dus...and some CX...and some tandem gravel...and some podiums...

Thanks Zoom! Better shoes it is! I forgot to mention that 10 days before the mini, my little toe on my right foot was not paying attention to where it was going and got stubbed. Who knew a toe could turn that black? I am reasonably sure it was broke. So some of the knee problem was the fact that I favored the right foot some even though by then the toe was feeling OK in the shoe.
WE have some good sport stores here in Columbus IN and Nike and Addis have stores here as well, so it looks like I'll be visiting them to check them out. And soon, I plan on running in the Columbus Regional Hospital's 15k at the end of Sept this year.
Pay close attention to your blood sugar from you post you are high risk. If I had been eating correctly and more active I could have delayed this for years. So far I have managed to control it sans meds with just diet and exersize along. My dad did it that way for 15 years before starting insulin and pills. I sure hope the inhaled insulin is perfected before I need meds.

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

paul leverett

posted: 6/26/2006 at 8:21 AM

i used to run a lot and did the cardiff (wales) marathon in 3hours 40 when i was younger but want to start again-have just started again but have pulled a calf muscle-trying to run before i walk! i am 47 years of age-any hints re running-i presume just warm up properly, walk to warm up then begin running and don't rush it!

Oh man do I know about the need to warm up!!! Several years ago I arrived home from work on a hot muggy Indiana day after a nice air conditioned drive of 63 miles. As I arrived home a severe thunderstorm arrived too. So I thought I better run from the truck to the house. The lawn is HUGE so I have a distance to run. About half way to the door I herd a loud pop then felt a sharp pain as my hamstring let go. I slid face first for about 20 feet right up to the porch landing. I was black and blue for weeks from right behind my knee to halfway up my butt.
I have no doubt that properly warmed up that hamstring would have NOT have popped
BTW I have a new found respect for those that run or play basketball etc with a pulled hamstring!! That is VERY painfull!

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

Pay close attention to your blood sugar from you post you are high risk. If I had been eating correctly and more active I could have delayed this for years. So far I have managed to control it sans meds with just diet and exersize along. My dad did it that way for 15 years before starting insulin and pills. I sure hope the inhaled insulin is perfected before I need meds.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you never have to deal with insulin or blood testing. My hubby is involved with the JDRF (he is training for his second big 100 mile bike ride--last year they did it in Asheville, NC, this year Death Valley), so I've been around a few kids who have insulin pumps and have to check their blood several times/day. What an awful disease.
So far avoiding white foods (white sugar, white rice, white flour, potatoes) really helps a lot to keep me from feeling crappy and wanting to eat everything in the house. That's just as well, anyhow--there's little-to-no nutritional value in those things, anyhow, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise...
k

'16 Goals:

• Do some dus...and some CX...and some tandem gravel...and some podiums...

i used to run a lot and did the cardiff (wales) marathon in 3hours 40 when i was younger but want to start again-have just started again but have pulled a calf muscle-trying to run before i walk! i am 47 years of age-any hints re running-i presume just warm up properly, walk to warm up then begin running and don't rush it!

I heard the latest idea on stretching is don't do it unless the muscle you're stretching is not injured. The theory is that if you pulled a calf muscle, for example, stretching might make it worse because you're pulling apart something that's healing. I'm not sure how valid it is though.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you never have to deal with insulin or blood testing. My hubby is involved with the JDRF (he is training for his second big 100 mile bike ride--last year they did it in Asheville, NC, this year Death Valley), so I've been around a few kids who have insulin pumps and have to check their blood several times/day. What an awful disease.
So far avoiding white foods (white sugar, white rice, white flour, potatoes) really helps a lot to keep me from feeling crappy and wanting to eat everything in the house. That's just as well, anyhow--there's little-to-no nutritional value in those things, anyhow, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise...
k

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you never have to deal with insulin or blood testing. My hubby is involved with the JDRF (he is training for his second big 100 mile bike ride--last year they did it in Asheville, NC, this year Death Valley), so I've been around a few kids who have insulin pumps and have to check their blood several times/day. What an awful disease.
So far avoiding white foods (white sugar, white rice, white flour, potatoes) really helps a lot to keep me from feeling crappy and wanting to eat everything in the house. That's just as well, anyhow--there's little-to-no nutritional value in those things, anyhow, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise...
k

It is that. It is also a blessing too! I now take better care of myself than I have in a long time. I actually feel better now than I did at your age. I just wish I could get my eldest daughter to listen about this disease, she is just shy of 31 and headed full tilt right for it.

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

i used to run a lot and did the cardiff (wales) marathon in 3hours 40 when i was younger but want to start again-have just started again but have pulled a calf muscle-trying to run before i walk! i am 47 years of age-any hints re running-i presume just warm up properly, walk to warm up then begin running and don't rush it!

It sounds like you have a good idea of what you need to do. No matter what your age, if you've taken time off from running then you will want to ease back into it slowly. Try walking to warm up and then running a couple of minutes followed by walking a couple of minutes and repeat that, start at 20 minutes the first few times and slowly work upward from there. Also, I am a huge fan of runnersworld.com and I know that they have some great articles on beginning running. Good luck to you!

'16 Goals:

Hi, Starflight! Welcome to running!
I agree with aes and zoom-zoom. Find something nice and easy, and then taper it to YOUR body, not your body to the plan. A couple of goals for brand new runners should be to #1 avoid injury and #2 make it as consistant AND FUN as possible. You can hit both those points by taking it ultra-conservative.
For what it's worth, I'm also an overweight runner who's had knee problems in the past that have kept me from running. Being really slow to increase time or milage and icing after every run got me through the problems. I now use a heart-rate monitor to train and that keeps me from going too hard (for now!), and my knees have been happy with what I'm doing. There are a LOT of different knee problems out there, so if yours continue to give you problems you might want to check with a sports doc and see if they can get you pointed in the right direction for a long-term running addiction - ::ahem:: - I mean hobby!

Wingz,
I know you are good people as you are a cat person! We have 5, ALL rescue jobs. The best one was totally wild. She would come to eat outside but not get too close. One day my wife got close, snatched here and put her in the house. Took three weeks for her to decide I was her best friend. I can't believe how tame she got and how fast it happened!

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

Sweetie (featured here) was a street kitten, like his mama. His mama wanted to come home with us but she was nursing a large litter. Sweetie was a very friendly kitten - came right up to my then DH and asked as clear as day if we wouldn't take him home. He's been my adoring buddy every since. I've got another cat too, but he's a little camera shy and I've not had him as long.
5 doesn't sound quite right for a number. I think kitties should come in even numbers. Have you thought about 8? Now THAT's a respectable number of cats... Zoom-zoom's got 3 or 4 - I don't remember - but the pictures are on the "Show me your furbabies" thread in the "Off the Beaten Path" forum. Check them out!

We seem stuck at the number 5! I think it is a plot. I keep saying no more and my wife seems to always manage to rescue one when we lose one. We actually moved the original 5 out here from The People’s Socialist Republic of California 12 years ago. The trick was we moved here to Indiana without any place to stay, so we moved and LIVED for 5 weeks in an 8 ft cab over camper WITH 5 cats. Bilbo lived to be 19 and I have one now that is 17 and deaf as a post now. Unfortunately there is nothing wrong with her lungs and she screams at all hours to be fed!
We can have outdoor cats by the dozen, I don’t care. We have 10 acres between the Rat Snakes and the cats they do a great job of keeping the property rodent free. But the wife wants to bring them indoors, When she brought in Cal Girl my mole problem became a curse. That cat killed them by the dozen!!! My snakes are starting to rebound as the guy that bought the place next to us know their value and won’t kill them so the moles are getting to be less of a problem now

To paraphrase an old poster: Today is the first day of the rest of your training. It doesn’t matter where you started or how far you’ve come. Today is the day. Your training didn’t start 6 weeks ago. Your training started the last time you hit the road. John “the Penguin” Bingham Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire